


Love in St. Ishiyama

by TheAnonymouse (aliceinreality98)



Category: Beelzebub (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Emotional Hurt, Heartbreak, M/M, Valentine's Day, almost angsty?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 15:28:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13297788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliceinreality98/pseuds/TheAnonymouse
Summary: It's Valentine's Day and love is in the air for the students of St. Ishiyama! But what about when it comes down to Himekawa and Natsume?-A rewrite of my four year old fic, the old one will be taken down.





	Love in St. Ishiyama

Valentine’s Day caught Himekawa by surprise. He had been counting down to the holiday for the past 364 days, marked it down on his calendars, even put a note reminding him to buy a gift next to his door. But still, Valentine’s Day caught him by surprise. It always did. But day never started off good when it almost didn’t start at all. In the gap between finishing his nightly shower and laying down to sleep he had forgotten to set his alarm. The only reason he woke up at all was because his maid gave a courtesy knock on his bedroom door before barging in to clean. Himekawa didn't spared her a glance as he darted passed her on the way out. He forced himself to ignore the line of products he spent the previous night selecting, the various versions of rose scented this and vanilla scented this. He could moan about wasted time when the day was done. Right now, he only considered himself lucky he was able to brush his teeth and put a comb through his hair. In his haste to find his keys, he didn’t even care he didn’t button his shirt correctly, nor did he acknowledge the same maid attempting to point it out to him. He had bigger fish to fry. He was determined to end his eight year long crush on Natsume once and for all, either by rejection or by success. He hoped for success.

 

_ Just gotta get him alone and ask him, easy as that. He isn’t the type to rub it in if he rejects someone… _ Himekawa thought as he roamed the halls, rose in hand.  _ Is he? _

 

The bell shrilled above the students and Himekawa was drowned in a swarm of bodies trying to get to their assigned rooms. The red and white decorations scattered throughout were hypnotizing in their quantity. For some reason, the romance reminded him of what it would feel like to be rejected. Though his crush on Natsume spanned eight years, his friendship with him spanned ten. Was Himekawa truly going to risk such a long friendship over a crush? Would their friendship change if Natsume rejected him? If he accepted, their friendship would change regardless. What would Natsume think of him? What would Natsume say of him? What would anyone else say when all this came to light? While Himekawa could handle gossip of a date, he had already beat himself up over a refusal. He would be in no position to hear it from another person's mouth. The list could be as long as his arm if he kept thinking about it but he was already making himself nauseous with worry. Himekawa was so deep in his self-induced panic he hadn’t realized he had been left alone after the rush. Or, rather, somewhat alone.

 

“Hime-chan! Shouldn’t you be in class by now? Or did you come to admire the decorations?” Natsume turned the corner and cooed at him. It might have been Himekawa’s shaking hands that drew Natsume’s attention to the rose, or the vibrancy of the red, but Natsume had his eyes locked on it within seconds.

 

“Don’t call me that, idiot, and it’s not like I’m alone out here, they would have to yell at both of us.” Himekawa tried to pass off his nervousness as annoyance, though even in childhood, that tactic hadn’t quite worked on Natsume. As it stood, Natsume only produced a grin and a piece of paper, folded once.

 

“I'm excused, you’re late. There's a staircase around the corner, if you would like my help in creating a medical emergency.” The way Natsume’s eyes sparkled as he threatened violence made Himekawa go weak in the knees. “Who’s the rose for, Hime-chan? Gonna ask that fiance of yours to be your valentine? That’s very sweet.”

 

“It’s none of your damn business who this is for.” Himekawa said, angry. He regretted speaking without thinking as soon as the words left his mouth. Natsume’s face lit up with over dramatic shock.

 

“Ooh, Hime-chan, cheating on her is very naughty. Is it for Yuka? I didn’t think she would be your type but to each their own, I suppose.” Natsume clicked his tongue in disappointment.

 

“It’s not for her, dumbass, it’s for this guy-- Fucking hell.” Himekawa swore. He had a knack for speaking without thinking today, it seemed. Natsume gasped, throwing a hand over his mouth. Himekawa was reminded of Natsume as a child, even then he was flamboyant and over dramatic, a ‘ _ natural actor _ ’ his mother had called him. Some things never change. Even when they clearly should in an attempt to make moments like this more subtle.

 

“Hime-chan, you never told me you liked boys. When were you planning on telling?” Natsume asked in a stage whisper.

 

“Will you take a second to shut the hell up?! Look, Natsume-kun,” Himekawa had already made up his mind to use honorifics the night before. “I wanted to talk to--”

 

A door half slid, half slammed, open not five feet away from them and their teacher poked his head out to glare at them.

 

“What are you doing outside of class?” Sadohara snapped.

 

“We were about to come in.” Natsume said, quickly, and Himekawa’s heart sank. Finding Natsume early had been his only chance at getting him alone; he wouldn’t have another opening to try again all week. It was all Kanzaki’s fault. Once Natsume had him in his line of sight, him and Shiroyama were all over him.

 

“But-” Himekawa protested as Natsume moved to enter the room.

 

“Sorry, Hime-chan, I’ll talk to you after school.” He said, ducking through the doorway. Natsume poked his head back around the corner and continued to speak. “Oh, Hime-chan, good luck with your date. Tell me about it later.”

 

Himekawa had to smile at him, a lot of what Natsume showed the world was fake. His politeness. His serenity. His laidback nature. Natsume was all of these, yes, but not to the degree he portrayed himself. Himekawa saw him develop the facade, though, he had seen him craft it during playdates and knee scrapes on the park near Natsume’s house, and now Himekawa could see straight through it. And he smiled at Natsume, even when Kanzaki called him back in, because Natsume had been genuine when he wished him luck and that was a rarity. He could almost ignore the feeling of rusted lead filling his stomach. ‘Almost’ being the key word in this situation.

 

_ Next year _ . Himekawa thought as he entered the classroom, tossing the rose into the trash can outside the door. Anyone else might have cried, or given up, or gotten spiteful, but he was Himekawa Tatsuya and he wasn’t just anyone. After eight years of chickening out, he was used to it. The door rattled on its tracks when he closed it but it shielded him from the garish hallway decorations so he refused to complain. He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he crossed the floor to his seat.  _ I’ll definitely ask him next year _ .

 

“Oi, oi, Himekawa, did you get dressed in the dark this morning?” Kanzaki asked with a snort. Himekawa looked over his shoulder, where Natsume was frantically gesturing to his shirt, and then down at himself. He took in the sight of his misaligned buttons with acceptance. He recalled someone telling him that he needed to fix himself, guess he hadn’t put much thought into it at the time. Standing over his assigned seat, he unbuttoned and rebuttoned his shirt with calm hands. He didn’t even blink when he heard some of the girls giggling.

 

“Valentine’s Day sucks, all the girls say no. Right, Himekawa?” Furuichi asked as Himekawa took his seat.

 

“Yeah, it sucks. Without question.” Himekawa pulled out his phone as the teacher took roll call.

 


End file.
